This invention relates to food processing machinery and, more particularly, to a stacker with a weighing scale, for a food loaf slicing machine. The stacker of the present invention is designed for use in a high production facility, e.g., the stacker-scale is intended to handle the output of a slicer which operates at a rate of about one thousand slices per minute.
A prevalent problem in stacking food loaf slices for packaging is maintaining the slices in registry on the stack. One cause of misaligned slices in a stack is free fall of a slice from the cutting station onto the stack. The same difficulties occur if subsequent transfer movements of the stack entail any free fall. There is an inherent lack of control during any appreciable free fall, which leads to misregistration of slices in the stack. Obviously, a misaligned stack is undesirable from an esthetic viewpoint; a misaligned stack also complicates further handling and packaging.
The alignment problem for a stacker is most acute when the stacker must accept the output of a high production slicer, operating at rates of several hundred to one thousand or more slices per minute. In such a slicer, the knife that cuts the slices imparts substantial force to each slice as cut; if the slices are not captured immediately by the stacker, accurate alignment of slices in the stack is most difficult and often virtually impossible to maintain. Furthermore, the rapid transfer movements required to weigh and remove the stacks as formed, in a high production application, accentuate the problems of maintaining accurate registry. Free fall occurring at any stage of the operation almost inherently produces misaligned, unsatisfactory stacks.